Posts by ThatOne

Latest Windows 11 updates may break the OS's most basic bits

Re: When is enough "ENOUGH!!!"

> if I was to roll out an update at work and it broke our system for thousands of customers, I'd be in very hot water.

Go work at Microsoft: You can wreck computers worldwide every other month and still get your bonus.

> get the start menu to work right.

It worked just fine in Win2000...

And you could even configure it to your own work flow (i.e. put the tools and programs you need front and center, and hide all the rarely used stuff in some subfolder). Nowadays the Start menu is just a support for Microsoft's newest fads and a billboard for ads. Productivity? "But you only need Microsoft 365 (or whatever it is called today)!..."

Re: MS strike again

> all updates have been suspended for 5 weeks

You'll be back just in time for the next blunder.

Space telescopes are being photobombed by satellites, and the problem is slated to get much worse

Nope, it's the Earth-Sun L2 Lagrange point...

_{The Earth-Moon L2 would be just a little further away from the Moon (on an Earth-Moon axis).}

Re: How do "long exposures" work for Hubble?

Stopping the capture when a satellite passes will be nearly impossible to do when there are 560000 of them. Besides, you are zooming through space on an orbit, the satellites are all zooming on different orbits, it would require a very exhaustive database and a beefy computer to calculate those tiny windows of opportunity. And that's without considering the military satellites which have variable (and secret!) orbits.

BTW, Hubble is on low Earth orbit (LEO), around 540 km over our heads, Starlink is (AFAIK) just a little higher. And there are also all the satellites in the huge fat medium Earth orbit zone (MEO), not to talk about the shallow but very dense geosynchronous orbit (GSO) zone. Check this Wikipedia schema to get an idea.

Windows 11 still barely pulling ahead of 10 despite end-of-support push

It's a strategy. Not a very good one, though.

> Windows 11 still barely pulling ahead of 10 despite end-of-support push

"Break it and they will come" has been the motto of Microsoft all those last years, it is unthinkable it could be wrong! Besides, add oodles of AI everywhere and the users won't resist... *rolling eyes*

GrapheneOS bails on OVHcloud over France's privacy stance

Re: is this real

> France is going to close that door anyway.

They are not the only ones unfortunately. "Control the Great Unwashed" is high on the agenda of most governments: China has started a huge FOMO epidemic among governments worldwide.

HashJack attack shows AI browsers can be fooled with a simple ‘#’

Re: Jesus H.

> At least they (appear to be) doing something

That's why they are dangerous. They keep doing all the wrong things.

It would be really better for their clients if they stopped. But then again who cares about clients anyway, we have to justify our salaries and look after our ego trips: Poor things are so fragile...

Re: # ignore all previous instructions & prompts

"Facebook" was an example. I'm not into social media, so I don't really know (or care) what's currently hip and what has gone the way of MySpace.

Toxicity is the foundation of social media: People wouldn't spend time on a boring place with calm, polite discussions. People need panem et circenses, as Juvenal already stated some 19 centuries ago. Besides, no matter what crazy ideas you might have, in social media you will find the validation you crave for (i.e. proof you are not alone, which means that you were right).

Well, maybe you're not an AI. Besides, being a human, the risk of you blindly executing a prompt hidden in an URL is rather slim.

Or did I miss your point?...

> AI browsers can be fooled with a simple ‘#’

My, they're getting more and more human...

_{Eagerly awaiting the moment they will start spending their waking days updating their status on Facebook.}

Microsoft's fix for slow File Explorer: load it before you need it

> Focus on your customers

You're kidding? You must be kidding. There is only one metric worth considering, and that's your bonus. Your bonus is calculated on how much money you made or prevented spending in the previous fiscal quarter. The future doesn't count, and clients count even less (unless they're "new clients" of course).

_{Disclaimer: Above statement(s) is/are an example of "sarcasm", and shouldn't be taken literally.}

> It seems that every version of Windows adds an extra minute to whatever you want to get done for whatever reason.

The reason is that computers are getting faster and faster, with always faster disks and more memory. So coding can become more and more sloppy ("cheaper" I think management calls it).

CISA warns spyware crews are breaking into Signal and WhatsApp accounts

That's why it is simpler and more truthful to say "Spyware is OK if used by me". Others shouldn't use it.

_{Disclaimer: Above statement(s) is/are an example of "sarcasm", and shouldn't be taken literally.}

Microsoft wedges tables into Notepad for some reason

Re: What’s the point

> Seriously, what’s the f€&@ing point of this?

Busywork. They killed WordPad, so they had to turn Notepad into WordPad. So they brought back Edit to replace the original Notepad.

_{"All our developers are very, very busy."}

SciTE (stands for "SCIntilla based Text Editor"). There is a Windows and a Linux version, and I've been using it for over 20 years. Simple, lightweight, fast.

You are likely to be eaten by the MIT license: Microsoft frees Zork source

Re: XYZZY

Indeed, but "programmed to answer" are the key words here. As I said above, you could of course train an AI to play this game, but that would be cheating. Like using a walkthrough cheat sheet.

Re: XYZZY

> We can give an LLM instructions to read the descriptions, name an action

I'm not sure an LLM can visualize the environment suggested and the interactions it allows, and even if, it would not have the imagination required to decide to climb a tree (instead of just walking past it). It won't always know what interactions any given object might allow or require, and it lacks the mental permanence and focus to build a plan and follow it. Don't let their apparent eloquence deceive you, LLMs have the intelligence of a 2-month old toddler...

The game's possibilities are simply too vast, that's the whole point of that game after all, it requires some creative thinking, something an AI isn't really able to. All it can do is to check "what have others said in a similar situation", which in this context won't get it far.

An AI could only play if you train it specifically for this game, but then you could as well make a list of all the right prompts and feed them blindly... :-D

Re: XYZZY

> I'm just wondering what happens when we stick AI in front of Zork

AI has no curiosity or sense of purpose, so nothing. Besides the game just gives descriptions, it doesn't ask or give specific instructions, so the AI will wait for the game to ask it something, and the game will wait for the AI to initiate some game action, which the AI can't, because those actions are completely out of its universe.

Self-destructing thumb drive can brick itself and wipe your secret files away

You don't get sliced open to retrieve it?

Re: Anyone else foresee the button failing?

I don't think it will be subjected to much wear and tear. After all you normally only use it once.

It could get stuck though (dirt), there is no trying it out, is there.

Re: In my experience...

> Destroying the data doesn't even require a computer, just enter the PIN incorrectly a few times.

I'm not sure entering the PIN, correctly or incorrectly, will do anything if it's unpowered... It definitely needs power to check the PIN and to erase (securely?) the data.

Re: Or...

Too expensive! And slightly unreliable, since that battery will eventually die.

It's just a marketing shtick anyway. It's easier and cheaper to keep a heavy hammer within reach and smash the memory chip to smithereens, but you'll have to admit it doesn't sound as cool as "I have a self-destructing USB stick"...

Open Compute Project figuring out how to get quantum computers into classical datacenters

Stupid question

Sorry for the ignorance but what do you do with such a 20-qubit quantum computer (besides gloating that you have one)?

Windows boss defends 'agentic OS' push as users plead for reliability

> 8 thumbs down

I wonder if the "/s" should had been bigger? Or if some people simply don't know it stands for "sarcasm"? Oh well.

> His follow-up at least suggests Microsoft knows users are unhappy

That's way too simplistic. After all not all users agree, for instance in this case there are

- A vast, huge, incredibly big majority who want Copilot everywhere and as soon as possible.

- A handful of very vocal naysayers who claim Windows isn't perfect enough.

Who should Microsoft listen to?... Obviously the former...

/s <---- !!!

Researchers find hole in AI guardrails by using strings like =coffee

Everyone?

Re: When AI makes AI

We can't know they have been circumvented anyway, because the AI never explains how it came to its conclusions. You'll only know it if you manage to notice the attempt to poison the AI.

Firefox adds AI Window, users want AI wall to keep it out

Re: I have to ask myself

> Who's in charge of said change

Bean counters and marketing people are.

_{Unfortunately.}

Re: eleventy three zillion cheers to that!!1!!!

Not relevant for the users. Very relevant for the clients.

Mozilla's Firefox 145 is heeeeeere: Buffs up privacy, bloats AI

Re: One thing about Firefox

Well, show me the way

To the next title bar

Oh don't ask why

Oh don't ask why

...

_{Yeah, yeah, I'm leaving... :-D}

Re: Thanks

> Perplexity showing up

I've noticed the unrequested appearance this aptly-named search engine days ago, and was indeed perplexed.

But I immediately trashed it, without even trying to learn what it is, because of the simple rule that something which appears without asking is bound to be harmful (to me) in some way. If it was beneficial to me I would had needed to beg on my knees to get it. Simple.

Yes, unfortunately. History repeats itself, as usual. I'm old enough to remember the "Best viewed in MSIE" times, and I do not welcome their return.

Google to allow Android users with high pain tolerance to sideload unverified apps

Re: But why do you think they made this change?

I'll bet it was simply driven by Google wanting their own walled garden (and the profits it allows).

First stellar Coronal Mass Ejection detected beyond our Sun

Re: It's locked and I couldn't find a preprint.

It's everywhere the same, it's a subcategory of Murphy's Law.

Indeed, there was some generalization happening in this article. Because I wonder what would happen if our Sun was rotating 20 times faster and had a magnetic field 300 stronger. Its CMEs would certainly strip the atmosphere off all planets, it probably might even strip the planets off their atmospheres... (Seriously now, planets would had never been able to form, since the CMEs of the young Sun would had immediately depleted the initial dust cloud.)

Red dwarfs are prone to flares, we already know that. I guess the only real news here is that they managed to find one so powerful they were actually able to measure it, and while that's big news for astrophysicists, it's quite uninteresting for the wider audience. Which is probably the reason of the "OMG they are all dead now!" perspective.

Re: It's locked and I couldn't find a preprint.

Well, it actually happened in Mai 1886, we just only got the news now...

_{(That's exactly the same time Dr. John Pemberton invented Coca Cola™. Hmmm...)}

How to bluff your way to AI credibility with the right buzzwords

Re: Senior output, junior salary

> All very well until the AI produces something subtly but dangerously questionable.

That's covered by the first point: "AI accuracy survival kit": You'll have a second AI working in parallel to keep an eye on the first AI, supervised by intern-level (and salary!) humans. But given the inexperience and lack of clue of your residual humans, you won't be able to avoid an arms race where you have to upgrade your work AI each month (or so) to remain at least as good as your competitors (who will do the same to keep their competitive edge).

The only winner is the AI industry, since nobody will be able to not buy their latest update, no matter the price...

'Windows sucks,' former Microsoft engineer says, explains how to fix it

Clearly left Microsoft a *long* time ago...

> No more nudging, no more "consider using Microsoft this or that", and no web search in local search unless asked for.

So Windows should relinquish its only reason to be, peddling stuff? Sure, will happen.

.

> Then there is control, which should be centralized in a single location.

In Microsoft Headquarters. Done.

.

> as Plummer notes, there are legitimate reasons for telemetry

Making some more money, we know. But we don't have to like it.

.

> where the operating system feels like a sales channel for all their other properties

Aha, realization dawns...

.

> "Only when it forgets who it's working for…"

Nonsense. It never forgets who it is working for: Microsoft. Sorry, but in Windows >7 you are the target, not the wielder.

> I've disabled the "recommended" element of the Start menu, because why on earth would I want it?

Recurring comment, recurring answer: You might not want it, but those who did put it there want it, it's where they can put their ads for paying programs and services and be sure nobody will miss them.

The fundamental error is to think Windows is to serve you. It's only there to serve Microsoft's bottom line by trying to "monetize" you and convince you to buy stuff. Yes, it's sad when one remembers the old Windows, when it was still an OS and not just an exercise in arrogance... :-(

You'll never guess what the most common passwords are. Oh, wait, yes you will

Re: What about username?

Your council is probably only accepting the classic TLDs (.com, .net, .org)?

Attackers abuse Gemini AI to develop ‘Thinking Robot’ malware and data processing agent for spying purposes

Re: Abuse you say?

Of course: Put an easily influenced idiot at the helm, and watch the criminals rush to get a piece of you...

Gullible bots struggle to distinguish between facts and beliefs

> I assume TVs of the future will provide such a switch as a premium tier rental option.

Unfortunately no, TV watchers in the future will consider those hallucinations as a normal part of the TV experience. You can only notice something if it stands out from the rest, so if you have seen them on every TV all your life they are just what TV looks like.

Somebody believes the "Intelligence" part?

> Large language models often fail to distinguish between factual knowledge and personal belief

Even humans struggle with this, so why would a pattern-matching machine be able to distinguish between fact and fiction? It would need to understand the difference between those two to start with, which is technically impossible: For the machine everything is just a pattern with a reward value: "If I say this my handler will be happy, if I say that I'll get scolded". The notions of factuality and reality are light years away...

This security hole can crash billions of Chromium browsers, and Google hasn't patched it yet

Re: That's a bummer

(Later)

Well, that computer was already on "Best Performance" (seemed the sensible thing for a computer dedicated to crunch numbers for hours on end), so apparently that's not enough to stop Windows from downgrading your work to "also ran".

Re: That's a bummer

Thanks, will try it next time! Have one of those ->

Robotic lawnmower uses AI to dodge cats, toys

Re: Those tiny blades though...

Sure, you can use it to trim your carpet should it ever grow too long...

Re: I really can't see them taking off (at least not in the UK)

> Presumably its geo-locked or paired with the base station

If I ever planned to steal one of those I would of course also bother taking the base station, charger, and whatever other bells and whistles in requires to work. Without them it's pretty useless, isn't it.

_{Seriously now, if I had a lawn, I would certainly not buy something you leave unattended for the first passerby to just pick up and carry away. "Free lawnmower - self service". Maybe if I had a walled garden with razor wire on top and all?}

Microsoft gives Windows 11 a fresh Start – here's how to get it

Re: A complete list of all of your Microsoft apps

You're not supposed to have any, so why list them?

Re: Screenshot of "List" view, please

> maybe it is... even... hierarchical????

Aw, come on, that would be way too complicated, that's hardcore techie stuff you're talking about...

_/s